Transitions Capitalism Mod Europe

New Approaches to European History #10

by Robert S. DuPlessis

Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe analyzes the diverse patterns of economic change that transformed agriculture and industry between the end of the Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution. Explicitly comparative, it introduces readers to a wealth of factual material, to classic interpretations, and to current debates. In this study Professor DuPlessis also incorporates recent scholarship on the world economy, proto-industry and women's work, and discusses the impact of the new economic order on Europe's working people.

Genres: History, Economics, Nonfiction, European History, World History

348 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 1997

Reviews

[Mellow Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot think of another book which had more need of graphs and pictures. That sounds like an admission of my own stupidity, but every line in this book is written in a tortuous protean and unpredictable syntax -- like the author intended to exhaust every possible grammatical construction in the English language -- and that means that you really have to fight the book to understand it. It simultaneously batters you with details that you have no choice but to let wash over you and forces you into the trenches of re-re-re-rereading garden path sentences at every turn. There are too many details for the format. NOT "too many details" period -- too many details *for the format*. Unless you've internalized the shifting boundaries of every country and all the states in them from 1450 to 1820, you're not going to know exactly how all the pieces fit together and Duplessis is loathe to give graphical illustrations of trade routes across the European continent, save 1 or 2 which illustrate his point at a different level of abstraction without indicating how to move between the levels of abstraction (e.g., there is one map early on [p. 40 in my edition] which illustrates a trade route where many of the cities and states mentioned in Duplessis' narrative are not shown, though others are marked by name, and the trade routes likewise illustrate some trade routes mentioned, but not all, and some which weren't talked about).

There are no graphs in this book. There are about 3 tables, at the beginning, but Duplessis gives up on that about a quarter of the way into the book. He prefers to tell you the numbers (in his garden path protean syntax) as a word problem and leaves it to you to mentally construct the timeline and visualize the disparities/comparisons. I could go on, but you likely understand the problem.

All that said, it is comprehensive. Even with most of the details washing over me it still gave me a feel for the patterns of development of the economies of early modern Europe and supplemented, in the words of the book, the "cursory treatment given by Marx and others" of this topic. The fact that it doesn't accomplish what it could and is hard to read have doesn't mean that it's bad, or a waste of your time to read. Do yourself a favor and keep a pen and pad by your side when you read this, and summarize sections to yourself before you move on, because you cannot expect more than a half-hearted throwaway contextualization at the end of every section from the book itself.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not an easy read, but the book was outstanding. If you teach World History, this book is one to put on your list. The amount of detail and supporting documentation is quite impressive. I would suggest reading The Origins of the Modern world by Marks first.